Now Barry Zito can stare at a Cy Young Award every day.
After winning the American League honor for the first time Thursday, he thought back to his youth, when his parents paid former major leaguer Randy Jones $50 a lesson and he went to his teacher’s house after workouts.
“It was sitting there in his living room every day,” Zito said, “and I would kind of marvel at it.”
Zito, 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA as Oakland won the AL West, was awarded by a panel of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
AL CY YOUNG VOTING
With first-, second- and third-place votes and total points (on a 5-3-1 basis):
Zito
1st — 17
2nd — 9
3rd — 2
Total – 114
Martinez
1st — 11
2nd — 12
3rd — 5
Total – 96
Lowe
1st — 0
2nd — 7
3rd — 20
Total – 41
Washburn
1st — 0
2nd — 0
3rd — 1
Total — 1
AND FINALLY: The Mariners signed Edgar Martinez to a one-year contract Thursday, a day after declining a $10 million option. Terms weren’t disclosed.
